CALIFORNIA ADULT LITERACY
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTA State Leadership Project of the California Department of Education, Adult Education OfficeProviding Professional Learning to Improve Student Learning

Course Descriptions

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the course description.

Facilitated Online Courses

Accelerated Learning to Facilitate Career Pathways New!

This course will introduce participants to a wide variety of strategies for both program and classroom that move students towards their career goals in the most efficient way possible. Participants will become familiar with a variety of strategies and by the end of the training, will have completed a plan for moving forward with adopting one or two strategies within their agency.

College and Career Readiness Standards: ELA Implementation and Application

Participants will begin to apply their knowledge of the CCRS ELA by building an
understanding of what individual standards are requiring students to know, understand,
and do. This process, called "unpacking the standards," will support participants'
ability to revise their previously developed classroom lesson plans, including modifying
or creating meaningful standards–aligned activities, assignments, and assessments
that meet the expectations of the CCRS. Using Webb's Depth of Knowledge model, participants
will work on enhancing assignments and assessments to meet the requirements of the
CCRS.

Become familiar with and practice strategies for helping adults with learning disabilities
succeed in your classes! Learn to select appropriate accommodations to meet diverse
learning needs. This course presents an overview of various instructional approaches
and helps you design one instructional activity using an LD-appropriate approach.
Session 1 (either the face-to-face workshop or the online course) is a pre-requisite
for attending this course.

Effective Teaching for Adult Educators

This course is intended to (1)build teachers' capacity to identify the skills and
knowledge required for excellent teaching as presented in the Adult Education Teacher
Competencies, (2) evaluate in which areas participants are strong and in which areas
professional development could support improvement, and (3) plan for increasing
effectiveness of instruction. This course is intended to (1)build teachers' capacity
to identify the skills and knowledge required for excellent teaching as presented
in the Adult Education Teacher Competencies, (2) evaluate in which areas participants
are strong and in which areas professional development could support improvement,
and (3) plan for increasing effectiveness of instruction.

Effective Lesson Planning

Plan and deliver effective lessons! This course takes participants step by step
through the process of lesson design and helps you create a lesson plan using the
online OTAN Lesson Plan Builder. Participants will learn up-to-date strategies for
planning lessons using a combination of the WIPPEA stages and “backward design.”
Using the information and skills taught in this course, participants will find that
lesson planning becomes a quick, easy process.

Enhancing Learner Persistence

What’s all the excitement surrounding the topic of learner persistence, how
does it differ from student retention and motivation, and how do I encourage my
students to persist in their learning? Based on research on factors that promote
learner persistence, this professional development course engages participants in
brainstorming implications for changing practice in the four areas of intake, orientation,
instruction, and program activities.

Evidence-Based Writing Instruction in the ABE Classroom

This course helps participants improve their writing instruction for Adult Basic
Education students who are at the intermediate and advanced levels, by applying
1) research-based instructional techniques, 2) protocols for analyzing students
work, and 3) guided instructional plans.

Evidence-Based Writing Instruction in the ESL Classroom

This course helps participants improve their writing instruction for ESL students
who are at the intermediate and advanced levels, by applying 1) research-based instructional
techniques, 2) protocols for analyzing students? work, and 3) guided instructional
plans.

Integrated and Contextualized Workforce Skills in the ABE/ASE Classroom

How can you prepare your learners to succeed in the workforce? Find out what employers
say are essential skills for today's workforce. This course shows you how to connect
transferable skills in the ABE/ASE classroom to the workplace. It also offers examples
of contextualizing ABE/ASE instruction easily by using workplace activities and
forms.

Integrated and Contextualized Workforce Skills in the ESL Classroom

How can you prepare your learners to succeed in the workforce? Find out what employers
say are essential skills for today's workforce. This course shows you how to connect
transferable skills in the ESL classroom to the workplace. It also offers examples
of contextualizing ESL instruction easily by using workplace activities and forms.

Integrated Education and Training (IET)

In Integrated Education and Training (IET), participants work in agency-based
teams of educators and agency administrators through the process of developing plans
for implementing one of four instructional models that successfully integrate adult
education basic skills instruction (i.e., Adult Basic Education or English has a
Second Language) with technical or occupational skills instruction. The four models
are: Co-teaching, Alternating Teaching, Vocational ESL/ABE-specific, and
Cluster Vocational ESL/ABE.

Managing the ESL Multilevel Class

How do you meet the needs of English as a Second Language (ESL) students in a class
with skill levels ranging from beginning to intermediate to advanced? This course
presents strategies for planning lessons for learners of widely varying language
skills.

How do you plan instruction so that you are certain your English learners' proficiency
is increasing? This course presents an optimal process for English as a second language
(ESL) instructional planning. The process uses three types of strategies: management,
monitoring, and reflection. Backed by research, these strategies may be used with
any proficiency level. Throughout the course, participants will explore ways to
integrate these strategies into their courses and daily lessons.

In Postsecondary Transitions, participants work in agency teams to develop an integrated,
comprehensive plan for implementing a coherent, effective postsecondary transition
program. In Session 1 participants identify best practices and strategies to implement
a successful postsecondary transition program.

Postsecondary Transitions, Session 2, From Theory to Practice: Next Steps and Action
Plans

In Postsecondary Transitions, participants work in agency teams to develop an integrated,
comprehensive plan for implementing a coherent, effective postsecondary transition
program. In Session 2, participants assess their agency’s degree of readiness to
implement a postsecondary transition program and identify strategic leverage points
for implementing their own agency’s action plan. Prerequisite: Session 1.

Understanding the Adult Learner, Session 1. Adult Learning and Development

This course examines how adults learn and the implications for adult literacy programs.
It explores the unique characteristics of adult learners as well as adult motivation,
needs, and self-concept and their effect on learning. The course also explores adult
development and the implications for effective teaching.

Are you frustrated at not getting the right answers from your students? Maybe it’s
because you are not asking the right questions! This course offers questioning strategies
that foster higher-order thinking skills while developing responses beyond the level
of recall. Help students connect the dots as they process new information to answer
questions designed with a purpose.

Self-Directed Online Courses

Adult Learning and Development

This course examines how adults learn and the implications for adult literacy programs.
It explores the unique characteristics of adult learners as well as adult motivation,
needs, and self-concept and their effect on learning. The course also explores adult
development and the implications for effective teaching.

Do you wonder if some of your students have learning disabilities? This course will
help you understand what learning disabilities are and recognize common characteristics
of adults with LD. You will review the screening process and explore the legal rights
and responsibilities of both the learner and the literacy program. This course is
a pre-requisite to Sessions 2 and 3.

Effective Strategies for Writing Instruction

This course examines the vital role writing plays in ABE, ASE, and ESL instruction,
especially in helping learners become college- and career-ready. Participants begin
by identifying possible challenges in teaching writing and strategies for overcoming
them. Through interactive, multimedia presentations, participants identify the key
components of the writing process and discover research-based instructional strategies
for supporting their students' writing development. Finally, participants learn
how to apply a rubric to evaluate student work and prepare a lesson plan with instruction
designed to address students' areas of need.

Introduction to College and Career Readiness Standards

This course will provide administrators and teachers with an overview of standards
implementation and the College and Career Readiness Standards. Participants will
then take a closer look at three key shifts in English Language Arts instruction
as well as in Math instruction.

Learner Goal Setting in Adult Education Programs

Did you know that one of the major factors contributing to learner persistence is
goal setting with the learner? Did you know that learners most often cite as a reason
for dropping out that their classes didn't meet their needs and expectations? Learn
how to set realistic goals with each learner and then revisit and revise goals throughout
the semester so that students feel comfortable that your class is meeting their
needs.

Learner Persistence

What’s all the excitement surrounding the topic of learner persistence, how does
it differ from student retention and motivation, and how do I encourage my students
to persist in their learning? Based on research on factors that promote learner
persistence, this self-directed professional development course examines implications
for changing practice in the four areas of intake, orientation, instruction, and
program activities.

Teaching Critical Thinking Skills

Discover how to help your students become better critical thinkers, problem solvers
and decision makers! Through this course you will learn specific techniques to help
students move beyond simple knowledge to greater understanding of what you are teaching.
You will also review the basic steps to problem solving and decision-making, and
explore strategies for helping your students apply critical thinking to their lives
both in and out of the classroom.

Math Instructional Strategies

This course is intended to help teachers understand how to present concepts vital
for: 1) mastering the California algebra standards, which reflect the National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics Standards; 2) passing the California High School Exit
Exam (CAHSEE) and/or the General Educational Development (GED) Mathematics Test;
and 3) helping students, through practice of the National Research Council’s math
literacy attributes, to conceptualize and utilize math concepts in and out of the
classroom.

Middle-Skills Job Preparation for Adult Education New!

Do you wonder how to integrate employability skills into your adult education setting to support workforce preparation for middle skills jobs? Employability skills, also referred to as 21st-century workplace skills, soft-skills or non-cognitive skills, are needed by our adult education students for readiness and success regardless of the industry or job position. This course will provide an overview of the middle skills jobs landscape, an employability skills framework and highlight strategies and hands-on resources to connect the needed employability skills for these jobs within the adult education setting.

Orientation for New ABE Teachers

The task of teaching basic literacy skills can seem overwhelming to the new Adult
Basic Education (ABE) teacher. This self-directed, self-paced online course orients
new teachers to the most immediate and important aspects of teaching ABE learners
in California. The new ABE instructor may wonder about many things, such as “Who
will my new students be?” “What are their literacy proficiencies and
needs?” “What materials should I use?” and “How do I assess
my students’ skills and document their progress?” In some cases, individual
agencies have procedures and practices that address these questions; in other cases,
the California Department of Education (CDE) has specific requirements and provides
documents to guide you. Based on The ABE New Teacher Resource Guide, available
as a PDF file on the CALPRO Web site, this course offers numerous supplemental application
activities and delivers content in a variety of formats.

Orientation for New ESL Teachers

To a new English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in an adult education program,
the task of teaching English can seem overwhelming. A teacher new to ESL often asks
such questions as, "Who will my new students be?" "What is their
English proficiency?" "What materials should I use?" and "How
do I assess my students and document their progress?" Many local agencies have
procedures and practices that address these issues and will provide guidance to
new teachers. The California Department of Education (CDE) has specific requirements
and also provides certain documents to guide you. This self-directed, self-paced
online course orients new teachers to the most immediate and important aspects of
teaching adult ESL in California. Based on The ESL New Teacher Resource Guide,
available as a PDF file on the CALPRO Web site, this course offers numerous supplemental
application activities and delivers content in a variety of formats.

More Information

For
more information, California residents can call CALPRO toll-free at 1-800-427-1422,
and select Option 5, or send a detailed e-mail to calprohelp@air.org.